Tuesday, November 7

Follow the Money

With today being Election Day, I was trying to think of something election-related to write about the Sonics. Then True Hoop swoops in with a nice piece about how NBA folks donated their money, politically. And with a one-sentence blurb about new Sonic owner Clayton Bennett amidst that article, I was off and running. These are some of the folks Mr. Bennett has donated his money to in the past 3 years:

1. John Sullivan (R), Rep. 1st District – Sullivan believes life begins at conception, opposes stem cell research, opposes gun control, believes in building a fence along the Mexican border, voted to make the Patriot Act permanent, loves the flag burning amendment, got a 0% rating from the ACLU, thinks we should keep the troops in Iraq forever, and has been arrested 4 times. Other than that, he’s great.

2. David Boren (D), 2nd District – Former Oklahoma governor, a fiscally conservative Democrat. Currently the President of the University of Oklahoma, Boren called for the NCAA to throw out Oklahoma’s controversial loss to the Ducks this year, because, you know, as the university prez, he didn’t really have much better to do with his time than worry about a football game.

3. Tom Cole (R), 4th District – In favor of privatizing social security and father of this delightful quote from the ’04 election, “What do you think Hitler would have thought if Roosevelt would've lost the election in 1944? He would not have thought American resolve was strengthening. What would the Confederacy have thought if Lincoln would have lost the election of 1864? ...I promise you this, if George Bush loses the election, Osama bin Laden wins the election.”

4. Ernest Istook (R), 5th District – Thinks collecting intelligence on US citizens is great, pro-private social security, pro school prayer, anti-abortion, pro flag burning amendment, pro amendment on same sex marriage (against the marriage, for the amendment), and received money from Jack Abramoff.

There’s more, but that’s enough for now.

You know, when I was in high school and college, the Oakland A’s were the team Mariner fans loved to hate. I was an M’s fan, so I hated the A’s. In fact, I went so far as to boycott Levis jeans, because the Haas family – the patriarchs of Levis – owned the A’s and I sure as hell wasn’t going to buy a pear a pants that went towards paying Jose Canseco’s salary.

In retrospect, it was silly, because the A’s didn’t need my $19.99 to whack the Mariners on a regular basis. But the principle remains the same, and when you buy a Sonics ticket, when you buy a jersey, when the City of Seattle and State of Washington are bullied into building a $500 million edifice sufficient for the Sonics and Storm, our tax dollars will be going to subsidize Clayton Bennett’s profit margins.

22 comments:

Dork1013
said...

Good, I can support a conservative in the NW. They are hard to find in this area. Ask Ray Allen who he voted for in 04'. I bet Clay Bennett is a liberal compared to Luke Ridnour. When Clay turns out to be a man of his word and works out a deal to keep the team here think of Howard Schultz's party affiliation,

"When Clay turns out to be a man of his word and works out a deal to keep the team here think of Howard Schultz's party affiliation" That's the same philosophy as saying, "Mark Foley is creepy, so think about that when voting for another Republican who has nothing to do with him" Howard Schultz is a guy who got in way over his head in a business he didn't understand. In the end, he pulled some shaddy business. But I don't attribute that to him being a Democrat. Just as I won't attribute whether the Sonics stay or leave to Clay being a Republican

Chris is right - and I hope nobody thinks that I'm saying that we should all boycott the Sonics because Clay Bennett gave some money to Republicans.

All I'm saying is that owners don't exist in vacuums, and this isn't a case where he gave money to both sides just to cover all of his bases. Bennett consistently gave money to conservative candidates and I'd wager he did it because he has a kinship to them. If that doesn't matter to you, then go ahead and support him. But if you feel strongly about liberal causes, I think you'd have a hard time supporting Bennett and his companies, of which the Sonics are one.

I am buying the "Item of the Game" every time I go to a game. I really liked the thermos from Sunday. We need some more conservative givers with deep pockets to battle that George Soros nut. Does it seem I am needling for a reaction? Love the Website!! Visit it almost every day. GO SONICS!!! (Shameless uniting theme)

From the looks of it, Bennett typically gives $2,000 or so a pop. Note that this is just for Bennett, personally, and does not include contributions from his corporation/various and sundry other companies. Nor does it include the names of his co-owners.

Hard to find a conservative in the NW? Nut-job creationist Dino Rossi almost became governor two years ago and the Seattle Times has become one of the most right-wing daily papers in the nation. You're just not looking hard enough, my friend.

As far as not giving money to a business because they don't support your politics, that's a slippery slope. In general, most businesses are run by right-wingers so unless you plan on dropping out and growing your own food, you'll be hard-pressed to live by that philosophy.

And even if you do, not supporting the Sonics doesn't make sense either. You know Big Boy Bennett would like nothing more than the Sonics to fail in Seattle, so he can steal them back to Okie-town like he tried to do with the Hornets.

My plan is to support the team, hope for the best and leave my politics at the voting booth. (p.s. GO VOTE--polls are open until 8pm)

My pal Peter Bagge is Libertarian, and they have some good points (less taxes, less government) and some bad points (outlaw public schools and services!). I might vote for them if they ever ran someone who wasn't completely nuts (it's a bad sign when they have their own public access show).

p.s. Isn't it great that right-wing nutjobs like dork 1013 and left-wing nut-jobs like me can unite in our love for the Seattle Supersonics? That's what Supersonicsoul is all about, folks. Group hug! (OK, I'm not that liberal)

Agreed on the nut-job candidates the Libertarians roll out - seems like it's always some guy fresh off the cover of High Times that ends up running for Comptroller. Unfortunately, the party's liberal policy on drug decriminalization seems to catch the public eye the most.

For what it's worth, (and not to get into any sort of political debate - I realize this is a sports forum) the LP is indeed against most mandatory funding of public services (like stadiums and arenas), but NOT for eliminating them. It's all about the use tax.

In 2004 they endorsed Rossi and Bush, and this year Reichert, McGavick, and Republican Stephen Johnson for the state supreme court (despite the fact that he's never served as a judge!). If they were any more far-right, they'd fall off their flat earth!

(Also, dork1013's comment reminded me that I haven't updated my blogger profile in a while. If for some reason you want to see semi-recent video of my stand-up stuff, go to: http://www.myspace.com/paulmerrill)

Well, for whatever it's worth to y'all, I voted for Bruce Guthrie (L) in the Washington senatorial race.

Alas, Guthrie's platform of libertarian minarchism (i.e., a policy of fiscal conservatism, social liberalism, and isolationist foreign policy) didn't appeal to most voters.

Anyway, the decriminalization and legalization of drugs (e.g., cocaine, marijuana, narcotics, et al.), gambling, prostitution, et cetera -- in conjunction with the implementation of municipally governed excise taxes on those aforementioned goods and services in lieu of municipal property taxes, state sales taxes, and federal income taxes -- is another reason that I promote individualism and libertarianism.

Lastly, I'm an anarcho-capitalist and protectionist; thus, I don't believe that the United States of America should be affiliated with the North American Free Trade Agreement, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or the United Nations.